Proto-Metal

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The combination of blues-rock with psychedelic rock formed much of the original basis for heavy metal.One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of genres was the British power trio Cream, who derived a massive, heavy sound from unison riffing between guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce, as well as Ginger Baker's double bass drumming. Their first two LPs, Fresh Cream (1966) and Disraeli Gears (1967), are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967), was also highly influential. Hendrix's virtuosic technique would be emulated by many metal guitarists and the album's most successful single, "Purple Haze," is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit. Vanilla Fudge, whose first album also came out in 1967, have been called "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto_metal#Antecedents:_mid-1960s

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BLACK SABBATH Paranoid Album Cover Paranoid
BLACK SABBATH
4.50 | 94 ratings
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LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin IV Album Cover Led Zeppelin IV
LED ZEPPELIN
4.43 | 81 ratings
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DEEP PURPLE Machine Head Album Cover Machine Head
DEEP PURPLE
4.42 | 70 ratings
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BLACK SABBATH Master of Reality Album Cover Master of Reality
BLACK SABBATH
4.38 | 80 ratings
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ALICE COOPER Killer Album Cover Killer
ALICE COOPER
4.55 | 21 ratings
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BLACK SABBATH Black Sabbath Album Cover Black Sabbath
BLACK SABBATH
4.30 | 83 ratings
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DEEP PURPLE Deep Purple in Rock Album Cover Deep Purple in Rock
DEEP PURPLE
4.32 | 57 ratings
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BLACK SABBATH Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Album Cover Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
BLACK SABBATH
4.25 | 68 ratings
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LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin II Album Cover Led Zeppelin II
LED ZEPPELIN
4.19 | 61 ratings
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KING CRIMSON Larks' Tongues in Aspic Album Cover Larks' Tongues in Aspic
KING CRIMSON
4.32 | 21 ratings
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URIAH HEEP Look at Yourself Album Cover Look at Yourself
URIAH HEEP
4.35 | 18 ratings
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KING CRIMSON Red Album Cover Red
KING CRIMSON
4.26 | 19 ratings
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DEEP PURPLE Made in Japan

Live album · 1972 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
Deep Purple's History Making Live Masterpiece.

Deep Purple's "Made in Japan" is one of the all time greatest immortal live albums in rock history. It features the band at their brilliant best and promoting their masterpiece albums "In Rock" and "Machine Head", both milestones in themselves. The lineup is the infamous Deep Purple lineup that has become rock legend; featuring on vocals the air raid sirens of high octave metal hero Ian Gillan, the pounding drums of Ian Paice, the guitar wizardry of Ritchie Blackmore, the keyboard magician Jon Lord and the wonderful Roger Glover, bass guitarist extraordinaire. The live performance features the best of the band to this point and these lengthy versions are even better than the studio renditions.

The album hits the mark with a rocking start with the hard driving 'Highway Star', the kid sister of 'Speed King'. The dynamic interplay of guitar and organ is wonderful and draws the listener in as it builds into the first verse. "Nobody Gonna Take My Car, I'm Gonna Race It To The Ground, Nobody Gonna Beat My Car, It's Gonna Break The Speed Of Sound" The lyrics embody the essence of the revhead and live Gillan is able to use his power vocals to full effect. But it's all about the riffs for this band and Blackmore delivers everytime; the true metal progenitor of lead guitar finesse, becoming a guitar hero with this album.

'Child In Time' is next running or a whopping 12 minutes. The song is a masterpiece, but live it surpasses even the album version. Gillan explodes on vocals reaching ear splitting notes after a gentle start. The song builds into a paroxysm of thunderous guitar riffs and Lord's keyboards are incredible. It builds into heavier sections with massive keyboard sweeps and fret melting lead guitar. An amazing wall of sound is generated with the rhythm machine of Paice and Glover. Eventually it settles into a serene passage until the finale where all members of the band blaze away and lift off into the stratosphere with crunching chord changes and a freak out of shattering noise as Gillan moans the pangs of child birth; perhaps it represents the birth of heavy metal, and the band deliver.

'Smoke On The Water' follows, beginning with a terrific variation of the opening classic riff. It is the most recognizable riff in rock history that every guitarist knows. The actual thematic content is fascinating about how a "stupid with a flare gun" burned down the recording studio of Frank Zappa and the Mothers in Montreux. Now the event is immortalised forever in song. This will perhaps remain the all time greatest Deep Purple song especially due to the 7 note chord riff. The live version is sensational with a scorching lead break and Lord's shimmering keyboard attack.

'The Mule' follows next with a lengthy instrumental break, and the song runs out to 9 ½ minutes in length. Ian Paice drums up a storm on his Ludwig kit soloing for quite some time. His precision drumming and atmospheric arrangement has become a benchmark for drummers worldwide.

'Strange Kind Of Woman' is also lengthy at 10 minutes and is great to hear as it was one of the biggest singles or the group not available on studio vinyl during this time. It was a chance for the band to kick back and groove along to a pleasing riff. The section where Gillan imitates Blackmore's guitar is often quoted as a master stroke and was influential to many bands to follow. It sounds as though Blackmore was trying to trick Gillan but they trade off perfectly and it is amusing and part of the experience of the live set, reminiscent of Plant and Page of Led Zeppelin.

'Lazy' is a 10 ½ minute opus with tons of keyboard soloing and Blackmore insane on bluesy guitar. It is a terrific lengthy jamming track about a dude so lazy he just stays in bed. Lord is awe inspiring on the organ solo and it really showcases his skill.

'Space Truckin'' follows and clocks in at a mammoth 20 minutes. It is another of the quintessential DP tracks. The power riffs and grinding organ absolutely slam to the wall. The lengthy version originally took up an entire side of the double vinyl album. It features huge spacey solos with Jon Lord's Hammond and his experimental ring modulator sounds. He unleashes a furious tirade of powerful organ stabs as Glover maintains a consistent bassline with Paice backing on drums. The session lasts for almost 15 minutes and is technical and progressive while maintaining strong rock rhythms. The Hammond solo is based on 'Mandrake Root' from the early DP albums.

"Made In Japan" is a classic masterpiece that is one of the most famous live albums in history. Every track is killer and the band are at the peak of their powers. It is a testament of the greatness of Deep Purple in the early years of proto-metal and the progressive nuances throughout, with intricate time sig changes and lengthy jamming solos, make it the ultimate live album of 1972.

DEEP PURPLE Fireball

Album · 1971 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
Deep Purple's "Fireball" is a very good followup to their masterpiece "In Rock". It features some proto metal classics such as the hard rocking title with breakneck rhythms and excellent guitar riffs of Blackmore. Ian Paice is an incredible drummer and he really lets rip on this album. 'No, No, No' is memorable for the high pitched vocals of Ian Gillan, and killer guitar riffing. 'Demon's Eye' is one of my favourite with pulsating rhythm and unforgettable riffs. It has a funkadelic beat and amazing keyboard from Jon Lord. 'Anyone's Daughter' is a throwaway but is surprisingly jazzy.

'The Mule' has oriental influences and crazy drumming from Paice. 'Fools' is next and really is a grower. At 8 minutes or so the track is the longest and features Blackmore fiddling about and too much organ, but its okay. The album ends with No One Came' with heavy rock elements and huge keyboard runs. Overall a decent album from legends of classic rock.

CAPTAIN BEYOND Captain Beyond

Album · 1972 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
Thanks to reviewers I was drawn to this album like a moth to a flame. Immediately I was dazzled by crunching riffs with heavy guitars and then amazing time changes locking into killer riffing with dirty guitar sounds and serious vocals. The time sigs changes so dramatically it is hard to keep up but it is such a delight to be treated to an obscurity like this hiding in the prog vaults. It begins with 'Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)' with all the time shifts and then blazes straight into 'Armworth' with Rod Evans' vocals, from Deep Purple, and hard rocking non stop rock rhythms.

The riffs are always prevalent and driving headlong to new half time feels and awesome instrumental breaks with the mind bending guitars of Rhino, from Iron Butterfly. His slide guitar work is absolutely psychedelic and atmospheric. Bobby Caldwell was a brilliant drummer and has a field day on percussion injecting timpani triplets and odd beats throughout. The bass of Lee Dorman is a constant pulse. 'Mesmerization Eclipse' is the first break into a different feel after the non stop opening suite of songs. There is another heavy riff and Deep Purple style vocals. They are much more progressive though, and once again the song reaks into several signatures, the band are brimming over with creativity and one never knows where they will go next, fast to slow to downright out of place, each meter is a pattern that locks on with that ever present heavy guitar. I didn't like the way this faded out slowly but immediately the next riff settles in on 'Raging River Of Fear'. This has a heavy bluesy feel, aggressive vocals and accomplished rhythm changes. The drums on this are incredible, constantly providing new tempos and fast paced beats and fills.

'Thousand Days Of Yesterday (Intro)' settles down the fury with quiet acoustic picking and gentle vocals. The harmonies are nice and the overall feel is melancholy to break away from the heaviness before and after. It doesn't last long as the next moment guitars crunch in and a fast tempo with forced vocals on 'Frozen Over'. The half time feel on this is astonishing injecting new metrics and it then changes completely in the next section. Nobody changes time sigs like Captain Beyond; so rapid and always appropriate. It fades into an accelerated acoustic rhythm on 'Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Time Since Come & Gone)'.

A fantastic rhythm locks in and Rhino is dynamic in the lead break. It fades and hammering chords intro 'I Cant Feel Nothin (Part 1)'. The drums are dazzling along with another massive riff. The vocals are easy on the ears and close to the Bachman Turner Overdrive style. The music continues non stop with a suite of songs; 'As The Moon Speaks (To the Waves of the Sea)' a quiet acoustic piece of beauty with narrative vocals, 'Astral Lady', 'As The Moon Speaks (Return)' back to the pounding rock of 'I Cant Feel Nothin (Part 2)'.

What a fantastic heavy slice of heavy prog with an obscurity that should be unearthed and played often. A great find for any heavy prog fan and one to return to habitually.

URIAH HEEP Look at Yourself

Album · 1971 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
"Look at Yourself" features incredible heavy Hammond and guitar riffing excellence on one of Uriah Heep's most consistent albums. The front cover is a mirror that many who owned the vinyl would have spent hours watching the reflective surface shine patterns on the roof. The music on the album also reflects the band, the power of progressive symphonic meets heavy rock.

The title track, 'Look at Yourself' is a definitive rocker with trademark driving guitar and organ with a pounding bassline. Mick Box's lead break crunches with incredible staccato Hammond of Ken Hensley and phased guitar. The vocals of David Byron are excellent with a straight clean performance and vibrato. There are so many brilliant tracks on the album that many found their way to best of compilations and concerts. The first 3 are Uriah Heep at their best.

On 'I Wanna Be Free' the harmonies are terrific and the riff is patented crunching guitar blasts similar to 'Gypsy' and 'Lady In Black'. Another great track on the album.

'July Morning' is captivating with quiet passages of serenity and loud majestic music crescendos. The verses are a lighters-in-the-air sway-along melodic ballad, and this is balanced with an outbreak of Hensley's Hammond smashes and Box's vibrant lead guitar. Crunching staccato Hammond blasts and a memorable guitar motif make this a progressive classic.

The descending riff is awesome on the proggy 'Shadows of Grief'. Some excellent Hammond answers and trade offs leading to a vibrant lead break. The organ shimmers on this and the musicianship overall is some of the best from the band. The quiet ending sounds like Pink Floyd's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' as it is very psychedelic, building gradually with powerful high harmonies, very much like Deep Purple in some ways. The weird ending is the shimmering Hammond sound heard in the middle of 'Gypsy'.

'What Should Be Done' is next and we have a grand piano intro and Byron's very gentle vocals. This is the Heep ballad that is added to every album. It's okay but I prefer when they are in full flight and hammering hard. The wah-wah guitar break of Box is quite beautiful.

'Love Machine' ends the vinyl album on a powerful note. Tons of Hammond and a riff that motors along with a quick tempo are the dominant sounds. Byron's vocals are fantastic on this. It sounds a bit like Rainbow's 'Starstruck' in melody. The lead break is terrific and caps this album off on a high note.

The bonus tracks are great, a single edited hard rocking version of the title track, and 'What's Within My Heart'. This second track features some banter prior to the song by the band as they count in the sparse twin acoustic guitars. It is a forgettable soft ballad, with minimalist acoustics, and feels like a demo track. It is lovely the way the bass comes in though, and the vocals are well performed.

In conclusion, "Look at Yourself" is one of the best Heep albums without a doubt. It features some fabulous Hammond and is a real proto-metal rocker. The tracks are all excellent with a few patchy sections, and not as proggy as some others, but this album is still very consistent quality rock.

URIAH HEEP Salisbury

Album · 1971 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
"Salisbury" is one of the first great Uriah Heep albums after a slow and steady start with inconsistent albums that always had at least 3 killer tracks. David Byron on vocals, Ken Hensley on keyboards and Mick Box on guitars was the driving force of the band.

It opens with 'Bird of prey' that riffs along with excellent vocals. The music is dynamic and powerful on 'Time to Live' leading to the quiet tranquillity of 'The Park'. The beauty and peace of quiet organ and acoustics with high falsetto vocals are later subjugated by Hensleys' hammering Hammond and Box's monster riff.

'Lady in Black' has a simply awesome proto-metal riff that locks into your brain. The lovely acoustic driven verses are counter balanced by the heavy guitars. The sound is similar to 'Gypsy' and the way it fades to a bass and drum at the end and harmonies is inspired creativity, and then the rest of the music is tracked back in, as if the mixing editor were fiddling with the sound, it's the stuff of innovation.

'High Priestess' is a straight rocker with some great lead guitar on Box's wah-wah pedals.

The final track is 'Salisbury', the monster epic, with huge majestic intro using brass and flute by John Fiddy. The guitars are powerful and drive the song along consistently with one riff after another. The 26 piece orchestra is an inspired touch and it is overwhelmed by crunching Hammond and blazing guitars. It is not as memorable an epic as some others from the 70s, but it is unique to Heep and a definite triumph or a band who opted for shorter tracks on subsequent albums.

The bonus tracks are 'Simon The Bullet Freak' and a single edit of 'High Priestess'. Both bonus tracks are very good rockers and cap off a solid album, showcasing the musicianship of the band. It contains some of the band's best material featuring in many concerts and compilations.

"Salisbury" has a memorable iconic front cover of a tank crushing a flower, that is ironic as the music often reflects the feeling of heavy metal stomping on the flower power generation once and for all. The album comes recommended to those who like hard driving rock with a taste of symphonic orchestral arrangements.

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proto-metal movie reviews

LED ZEPPELIN The Song Remains the Same

Movie · 1976 · Proto-Metal
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rdtprog
This is the review of the Blu-Ray version of the movie that i saw for the first time in theater a long time ago. There is a improvement of the picture quality compare to the DVD version, but nothing as good as a Blu-Ray of today. What is so interesting about this movie is that it's not only a music concert, it's a lot more. There is some fiction images throughout the movie along with behind the scenes and real day life action footage with each members of the band. The musicians played a role by illustrating the story of the songs like characters in a movie.

The movie starts with the arrival of the crew and the band in Manhattan by car. The city where the show has a important meaning to the movie. There is some entertaining behind the scenes footage, that had took place during the show. It's a real treat to see the manager takes on his crew members who had let circulate some pirates posters of the band. There goes down the drain the merchandising profits! And not only that, but we learned that a robbery of the show's profits had been stolen!

Now for the actual live footage! To have footage of the legendary band is a rare historical moment and i have never been disappointed by the quality of the footage, a little dark with no visuals, because the music was so appealing to me. The idea of illustrating the show with a story is not a bad idea, but at times, i was missing the joy of seeing the band play their instrument, it's the case, especially during the song "The Song Remains the Same", who is one of the best Led Zeppelin songs, along with "No Quarter", simply because for me that's the songs that are the closest to Progressive rock with their nice atmosphere. Another highlight of the show is the 15 minutes drum solo of John Bonham, who is captured nicely by cameras.

The extras contains more songs, and more footage of the conference press talking about the robbery that i was talking earlier in my review. After 38 years, it's easy for me to give this a 5 stars, because it's still a great music to hear today despite some flaws on the quality of the footage, but put in the context of the 70's and restore on Blu-Ray, it's nice to watch. The 5.1 mix also add a new dimension to the whole experience.

QUEEN Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid

Movie · 2007 · Proto-Metal
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Kingcrimsonprog
I have seen a few other Queen DVDs and have a penchant for concert Blu Rays in general so I had high expectations going into this. Queen Rock Montreal not only lived up to my expectations but in many areas exceeded them. Not only is the concert filmed just before the synthesizers-period, with the band absolutely playing the hell out of their instruments, but the technical aspects of the concert recording are top notch too, leaving the whole thing great in all departments.

The sound quality is absolutely superb, crystal clear and very big, which really brings to attention all the skill and virtuosity with which Queen played the gig, and that's not just the mix but the recording quality itself too.

The video, which is of course excellent in the main concert, has been scrutinized and cleaned up on the original 35mm prints before being re-scanned for maximum quality, there is even a fairly detailed description of the process in the linear notes. Consequently, the concert looks amazing and clear in a way no other Queen concert does as of yet.

In terms of the concert itself, there is no question of quality whatsoever. Queen are absolutely electric and deliver a wide array of some of their hardest and heaviest material in about as energetic and impressive a performance as has been captured on film, and mix it up with a few quieter numbers for balance and variety, leaving a full and complete Queen concert experience.

The band don't even just stick to the big radio hits either, playing material such as 'Dragon Attack,' 'Get Down Make Love,' and 'Sheer Heart Attack,' that you wouldn't necessarily expect in with the 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' and 'Under Pressure,' level songs.

The highlights for me were the excellent performance of 'I'm In Love With My Car,' with Roger both singing masterfully and nailing the drum fills to perfection as well as their fast and hard rendition of early number 'Keep Yourself Alive.'

The band's performance is excellent, the track listing is excellent and the audio visual quality is excellent. What more could you possibly ask for in a concert Blu Ray ?

In terms of extras, you get commentary from Brian and Roger, A hilariously bad 80s TV special on Queen, An interesting rehearsal/interview for Live Aid and of course the excellent Live Aid performance itself, which doesn't even require describing it is that well regarded.

Overall I highly recommend this product, I enjoy a lot of Live Concert DVDs and Blu Rays and this is definitely one of the finest I've come across, especially if you like the harder rock side of Queen.

LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin

Movie · 2003 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
A great DVD from the legends of rock, perhaps the best if you do not count 'The Song Remains the same'. The menus are interesting and you can jump straight into timeless classics such as a 15 minute version of Dazed and Confused with magnificent guitar lead break par excellence from Page. The lighting is always subdued and straightforward, they were never a spectacular showman band, their spectacle lay strictly with the music and what a sound they created! There are shots of the crowd occasionally but the focus is always on Page and Plant.

How Many More Times rocks out for 20 minutes and is a classic. Also drums are showcased on Moby Dick, a 15 minute treasure. Whole Lotta Love makes an appearance and is well sung by Plant. Immigrant Song was always my favourite and theres an awesome version here along with the quintessential Black Dog with that mesmirising riff. The driving blues of Since I've Been Loving You is worth mentioning with Page looking completely absorbed with his guitar. There is a chilling version of In My Time of Dying and of course the indelible Stairway to Heaven is added to the mix. A very strong blue light shines and makes a heavenly glow throughout the performance, similar to TSRTS film.

Rock and Roll is a favourite and also Nobody's Fault but Mine with its killer riff. Whole Lotta Love caps things off at the end of the DVD. I highly reccommend this as a perfect example of why Led Zeppelin are masters of proto metal and an influence to countless musicians worldwide.

DEEP PURPLE In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra

Movie · 1999 · Proto-Metal
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AtomicCrimsonRush
Gillan, Glover, Lord, Morse, Paice are the essential Deep Purple lineup and it was a pleasure to see them doing this ambitious concert with finesse and flair, absolutely cementing their reputation as the ultimate metal progenitors. However therewas not enough rock and it concentrated on an orchestral piece that goes on forever. The DVD features highlights such as the classic songs, Wring That Neck, Pictures Of Home and Smoke On The Water. These were the highlights for me but I became rather bored and disinterested with the lengthy Concerto For Group And Orchestra - Movements I to III. It was interesting at first taste but soon became rather tiresome. So I was a little disapointed in this DVD.

It may be a matter of what you want from this band, I prefer the hard, raucous sound of Machine Head, Made In Japan or In Rock. Dont get me wrong. the orchestra plays beautifully, and its all very technically proficient as far as the movements are concerned, but not Deep Purple the way I remember them. I like my Deep Purple served up with classic killer riffs, magnificent vocals and virtuoso drumming. So this DVD may be great to watch once as a curio piece perhaps, but on second and third viewing its a real yawnfest.

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